1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of information systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a system and method for automatically updating control codes pre-stored within a broadcast receiver and testing its remote transmitter.
2. Description of Art Related to the Invention
Over the last few years, there has been a growing demand for entertainment systems working in conjunction with various types of broadcasting systems. An example of an entertainment system includes a digital satellite system (DSS). The DSS includes an antenna that receives a digital bit stream from DSS satellites and routes the bit stream to an integrated receiver decoder (IRD). The IRD is responsible for decoding the bit stream and processing the decoded bit stream to produce an output signal having an appropriate format. The output signal is sent to one or more peripheral devices. The peripheral device(s) may include one or more analog-input peripheral devices such as a television receiver or an analog video cassette recorder (VCR). The IRD can be user controlled through a remote control.
For current DSS architectures, the operations of the analog VCR are controlled by a remote transmitter. The remote transmitter is connected to an output port of the IRD (e.g., a serial port) through a unidirectional coaxial cable and is manually programmed by the user to store one or more control codes associated with a certain model and type of peripheral device. Hence, upon receiving a control signal from the IRD requesting the analog VCR to perform a particular operational command, the remote transmitter outputs a control code recognized by the analog VCR. If infrared (IR) transmissions are used between the remote transmitter and the analog VCR, the control code is a sequence of non-visible, light pulses which are interpreted by the analog VCR as an operational command. Examples of operational commands include "power-on", "record", "stop record", and "power-off".
Based on the current DSS architecture described above, a number of disadvantages have been realized. One disadvantage is that the user is required to manually program the remote transmitter by entering an index number assigned to the peripheral device. Each index number is assigned a number of control codes associated with each operational command to be performed by the analog VCR. This scheme unnecessarily increases the possibility of user error, causing the ISD to not function properly and to miss recording a program event (e.g., television program, pay-per-view movie, etc.).
Another disadvantage involves potential incompatibility between the remote transmitter and future peripheral devices (e.g., analog VCRs) controlled by IRD. Currently, the remote transmitter is only programmed at manufacture with control codes for a limited number of analog VCRs. Hence, it would be necessary to purchase a new remote transmitter upon upgrading a PSS with a future peripheral device. In view of the foregoing, it would be beneficial to develop a system that allows the remote transmitter to be periodically updated with control codes associated with future peripheral devices. This would enable communications to exist between the IRD and future peripheral devices implemented in the DSS.
Yet another disadvantage associated with the above-identified DDS architecture is that it does not provide a dedicated testing mechanism to allow the user to verify that the remote transmitter and its entertainment system are functioning properly. Currently, the remote transmitter is tested by programming the IRD to record, during a predetermined time interval, a program event on recording medium such as a video cassette tape. Thereafter, the user analyzes the recording medium to determine whether the program event has been recorded accurately. This testing technique is time-consuming to the user and complicates diagnostics if recording errors are detected. Hence, it would be beneficial to develop a dedicated testing mechanism to reduce testing complexity.